The Royal College of Arms (College of Heralds) of the Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu and the Hashemite Sultanate of Sabah officiated by the Grand Prince and Prince Marshal under the benevolence of Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram I, The Sultan of Sulu & The Sultan of Sabah (Sultan Fuad the First), designs and creates coats of arms, symbols, devices, banners and other armorial bearings for a person, family, corporation or government dominion (whether federal/ national, state/ province, town, city or any local government unit).

Any person, corporation or government entity is welcomed to apply for a coat of arms or symbol to be used exclusively by the applicant grantee or bearer of the granted arms by the College of Arms.

A deserving person can be admitted a "Datuk (Knight)" or "Datin (Lady)" in the various Orders of Knighthood in one of the oldest and enduring Royal Houses founded in 1405 in Sulu, the Royal House of Sulu and Sabah, (since 1823 the Royal House of Kiram), which today is represented by Sultan Fuad I as head of the major branch of the Kiram Royal Family.

The Kiram Royal Family is the direct descendant of the first Sultan in 1457, that finally descended to Sulu Sultan Mawallil Wasit (Sultan 1600 to 1640), the son of Brunei Sultan Muhammad Hassan, further cementing the blood links of the Royal House of Sulu & Sabah and the Royal House of Brunei as one family. The father of Sultan Jamalul Kiram I was Sulu Sultan Shakir ul lah (Sultan 1816 to 1823), the direct descendant of Sultan Mawallil Wasit. It was Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram I (Sultan 1823 to 1844, son of Sultan Shakir ul lah) who first used the surname KIRAM, as before him the Sultans of Sulu & Sabah did not use any surname – only their first names. Thus, in reality the family name KIRAM can be traced back to the year 1600, however, for clarity due to its first usage we equate the Kiram Royal Family to year 1823 to this day.

The membership in the Orders of Knighthood is a personal award from Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram I, The Sultan of Sulu & The Sultan of Sabah. The Orders are administered by HRH Prince Omar Kiram Dux de Legazpi Duque de Vivar-Maniquiz, Grand Prince and Prince Marshal and Grand Master of the five (5) Orders of Knighthood. A member is admitted and awarded based on his/ her service or services of exemplary nature to the community, the arts, sciences, or humanities, etc. Knights and Ladies of the various Orders of Knighthood are granted Award of Knighthood and Knightly Coat of Arms.

Listed below are the Orders of Knighthood whose membership is a personal award to the recipient from Sultan Fuad I, for exemplary services to society, the community, the arts, sciences, and humanities:

1. Royal Order of Hashem of Sabah
2. Royal Order of Sulu
3. Royal Order of Sulu & Sabah
4. Royal Order of Kiram
5. Royal Order of Mindanao


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF KNIGHTHOOD

The aims of Knighthood are unity, harmony and brotherhood among mankind with no distinction of any kind such as race, color, language, gender, religion, political or other opinion, social origin or stature, property ownership, birth or other status in life. The meaning of the word "Knight" in Anglo-Saxon language is "man servant." Thus, a Knight accepts the duty of service to man and service to society and to humanity. The Knights/ Datuks and Ladies/ Datins of Sultan Fuad I, The Guardian of the Faithful in Mindanao, follow the strict meaning, dictates and tenets of Knighthood or Chivalry; i.e. to serve and protect the weak, the poor, the sick, underprivileged, widows, orphans and the elderly, and to perform charity at all times -- the noble instinct of man.


TITLES OF REIGNING SULTAN & SOVEREIGN OF THE ROYAL ORDERS

These were the traditional titles conferred to and used by the Royal Sultans of Sulu & Sabah since the coronation of the first Sultan in 1457. The title de jure Reigning Sultan, to follow the tradition, was conferred by the Council of Royal Datus on the 3rd of June 2006 when Sultan Fuad the First was crowned as the 35th Sultan of Sulu & Sabah.

The Supreme Council of Sharifs of the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah decreed that Sultan Fuad the First took on the traditional and symbolic title of Sovereign of the Royal Orders to personify his lawful and rightful inheritance as Sultan of Sulu & Sabah being the last surviving son of HM Sultan Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I (Sultan 1947-1973).

However, Sultan Fuad the First prefers to use the title of Supreme Head of the Royal Orders.

These traditional and symbolic titles of Reigning Sultan and Sovereign of the Royal Orders are not meant to mislead that the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah still possesses its sovereignty it enjoyed since its foundation as a sovereign kingdom and state in 1405. The Sultanate of Sulu was annexed to the Philippines without the consent of the people of the Sultanate of Sulu as no plebiscite and no referendum was staged in the dominions/ provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga and Palawan in 1946, making this arbitrary annexation of the Sultanate a breach of the United Nations Charter.

As proof of its sovereign status the Kingdom/ Sultanate of Sulu signed treaties with China in 1417, U.S.A. on 5th February 1842, France on 20th February 1845, U.S.A. again on 20th August 1899 entitled the Bates Treaty, and also other treaties with Portugal, Great Britain and Spain.

The Americans occupied the Sultanate with disastrous consequences as a result of the 1898 Treaty of Paris as enumerated below:

Spain unlawfully included the Sultanate of Sulu as part of the Philippines when Spain signed the 1898 Treaty of Paris, that was a treaty of surrender by Spain to the U.S.A., as Spain lost the Spanish American War in Cuba in 1898. Spain ceded/ sold its possessions of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Spain did not conquer and did not own the Sultanate of Sulu unlike the Philippines so Spain had no right to sell it to the U.S.A.

The Americans, misled by Spain and worried on the inclusion of the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, compelled HM Sultan Haji Mohammad Jamalul Kiram II (Sultan 1893-1936, brother of the grandfather of Sultan Fuad the First) to sign the Bates Treaty on 20th August 1899.


BATES TREATY OF 1899 GUARANTEED SOVEREIGNTY & PROTECTION OF THE SULTANATE OF SULU & SABAH

The Bates Treaty was proof absolute that the 1898 Treaty of Paris was unlawful and questionable in relation to the Article ceding the Sultanate to the U.S.A.

The Bates Treaty stipulated the guaranteed and continued sovereignty and enshrined the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah as a United States Protectorate.

However, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt singularly abrogated and terminated the 1899 Bates Treaty on 2nd March 1904, without informing and without the consent of the Sultan of Sulu & Sabah, making the said termination of the U.S.A. null and void and not valid because, as per Law of Treaties and based on International Law, no one party can terminate a treaty without the knowledge and consent of the other party.

Therefore, as per Law of Treaties and International Law, the 20th August 1899 Bates Treaty, terminated by the U.S.A. unilaterally without knowledge or consent by HM Sultan Jamalul Kiram II meant such termination was null and void. This event points to the truth that the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah is still a sovereign state and a United States Protectorate to this day.

Sultan Fuad the First respects the actual view of the international community of nations and the Philippine government that the sovereignty of Sulu archipelago and Sabah is vested to the Republic of the Philippines (without consent by the people of the Sultanate). However, due to historical facts and aforementioned legal evidence, he does not agree with this view and he and his committed supporters, work for the full restoration of sovereignty of the Sultanate by peaceful means.


ALAND Suomi AUTONOMY/ PROTECTORATE STATUS OF FINLAND

We favour an Autonomy/ Protectorate Status patterned and similar to Aland Suomi of Finland in the Royal Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah that will enshrine a Parliamentary Monarchy with Members of Parliament elected by our people to pursue peace, harmony, stability and prosperity in our beloved Sultanate.

This Autonomy/ Protectorate Status can also be the template in all Royal Sultanates of Mindanao or Southern Philippines like Maguindanao, Buayan, and Lanao with Misamis and Bukidonon provinces that will respect the customs and traditions, languages, arts and cultures of the Muslim people. This will result in peace in Mindanao that evaded the Philippines for many, many years. This will also stop clandestine operations of many foreign nations in the internal affairs of Mindanao.


ARBITRARY ANNEXATION BREACHED U.S. CONSTITUTION & U.N. CHARTER

The 1946 act of arbitrary amalgamation of the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah (a sovereign state at that time) to the Philippines without people’s consent violated the “human rights, equal rights for self-determination and fundamental freedoms of the people and the territorial integrity and political independence of the Sultanate.” It breached the American Constitution. It also contravened the United Nations’ Charter as follows:

(1) "To develop friendly relations among nations based on the respect for the principles of equal rights and self-determination of people and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
(2) To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; and
(3) All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence on any state or in any other manner inconsistent with purposes of the United Nations.”


CONCLUSION AS PER HISTORY & INTERNATIONAL LAW

So based on historical records and International Law, i.e. the singular termination of the 1899 Bates Treaty by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt being null and void and the arbitrary annexation of the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah without people’s consent, that contravened the United Nations’ Charter and also rendered this annexation to be null and void, the only logical conclusion is: the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah is still a sovereign state.

It is our belief that fair-minded peoples and nations of the international community along with the United Nations will agree with this point of view.


TAUSUGS SEEK HELP OF UNITED NATIONS’ & INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

The grave concern of Sultan Fuad the First and the Tausug people now only numbering over 3 million scattered in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Palawan, Zamboanga peninsula and Sabah (the historic and traditional homeland of the Tausugs), that the Muslim Tausug people being a minority group in 90 million Philippine Christian dominated population, fear their centuries old arts and culture, the Tausug language and their Tausug values as a people, now being eroded may be lost forever to the Tausug future generations.

The Tausugs are the indigenous people of the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah.

Sultan Fuad the First and the Tausug people seek protection from the United Nations and the international community to protect their rights as a minority group in the Philippines.

This plea to the United Nations has a precedent when the League of Nations in 1921 granted protection to Aland Suomi, a minority group in Finland, to protect their own customs, traditions, identity, arts and culture and the Aland language.


ALAND Suomi AUTONOMY/ PROTECTORATE

Aland islands as an autonomy/ protectorate state though part of Finland has its own parliament, administration and own government providing services to its people, flag, national anthem, police force, army, accepts foreign direct investments, issues passports to its citizens with Suomi Aland and Finland symbols and both names in equal sizes. Aland’s official language is Swedish while the rest of Finland is Finnish.

Aland is a member of the Nordic Council (regional grouping of Nordic nations) and can veto any international agreement that will affect Aland and its people. The Aland’s parliament had to ratify the decision of Finland to join the European Union before Finland joined the EU.

Aland is an example of autonomy/ protectorate that works well for the Alanders and guarantees their rights as a minority group in Finland under the international protection of the League of Nations that became the United Nations.


OFFICIAL POLICY: PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

Sultan Fuad the First and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), who recognizes Sultan Fuad the First as the true and legitimate Sultan of Sulu & Sabah, have an enduring concordat and agreement that they both abhor and reject terrorism and extremism that harm and kill people. The MNLF also supports and accepts the vision and policy of Sultan Fuad the First to pursue peace and order, harmony, unity and stability as their common stance in the Sultanate and other parts of the world.


OTHER ROYAL TITLES OF SULTAN FUAD THE FIRST

1. Head Major Branch of the Royal House of Sulu & Sabah (Kiram Royal Family)
2. Maharajah Laylah (Prince Palace Marshal) of HM Sultan Mahakuttah Abdulla Kiram
3. Royal Datu (Prince Royal) of the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah
4. Supreme Head of the Royal Orders


GRANT OF COAT OF ARMS

The grant of coat of arms or other awards is on a case to case basis only. The Royal College of Arms, the Royal House of Sulu & Sabah and the Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah recognize royalty, nobility and orders of knighthood from other nations, so any design of arms or re-creation of design of arms for royalty, nobility or knights shall conform with rules of Heraldry pertaining to the coronet, helmet, other heraldic marks and style or protocol address of the bearer of the arms. Any interested person, corporation or government entity is invited to apply for a coat of arms. Please email the Royal College of Arms addressed to the Prince Marshal to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

With best wishes.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF ARMS
The Grand Prince & Prince Marshal